Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Max Verstappen opened the Formula One season with a grand slam, the fifth of his career, putting him level with Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher for third all-time, and one behind Lewis Hamilton for second. Meanwhile, the FIA World Endurance Championship opened its season across the Gulf of Bahrain in Qatar with a race that went the scheduled distance. A good story was spoiled in the closing laps, but it did lead to a historic achievement. It was windy in Las Vegas. It was an international affair in Daytona. However, another Florida event is on my mind, as a season is about to begin.
How Are We Feeling on the Eve of a Season?
Most of IndyCar's offseason was spent not speaking about the racing, and all the off-track debates over future decisions and regulation changes casted a massive shadow over what we are about to witness starting this weekend.
There are plenty of understandable things to be frustrated over. Whether it is the hybrid system, originally supposed to debut in 2020, delayed because of logistics, then the pandemic, then supply chain issues, and now delayed until some time in 2024, but possibly not until 2025, due to limited distribution, or races falling off the calendar and the imbalance between oval races and road and street course races, there are things that haven't gone the series way. Some are in the series control, others are not.
Every time it feels like IndyCar is gaining ground, in two months we are wondering how it slipped backward again. The season finale moving from a Nashville street race to Nashville Superspeedway about 40 minutes from downtown less than a month prior to the season opener is another example.
For everything that frustrates people about the direction of IndyCar, what takes place on the racetrack cannot be completely lost.
Time and time again, IndyCar shows up to a racetrack and puts on a thrilling event. Even when it is unexpected, IndyCar can pull something out that is jaw-dropping. For a handful of years, all hope was lost for Texas Motor Speedway. Then last year's race happened. That came after a season opener saw the top two cars clash heading into turn four at St. Petersburg and take both drivers out of the race, and that wasn't the last act of drama in that race.
IndyCar can have a team miss the Indianapolis 500 and then two and a half months later have that team chasing down a victory on a three-stop strategy while possibly the greatest driver in series history is on a historic fuel conservation run in the closing laps. There can be multiple first-time winners and then a driver can win three races on the spin and completely take control of a championship.
That is going to be the case again in 2024, and yet, the series has reached a boiling point.
Some have thrown up their hands and said enough. I get it, but why are you watching IndyCar in the first place then?
It is a motorsports series after all. You fall in love for the races, what happened between the green flag and the checkered. The dazzling speeds and hair-raising passes. The blinding pit stops and strategy gambles. The drivers are mesmerizing for their ability, making the daring seem so pedestrian, and not thinking twice about what they just did. It is something to look forward to on those Sunday afternoon when hot dog vendors and souvenir trailers are all set up and ready to welcome spectators who look to disconnect from the concerns of everyday life for a few hours.
We are less than a week from the start of the IndyCar season, and not much has been said about the upcoming season, what will happen on the track and the drivers competing. Everything has been about auxiliary concerns, some warranted, others less so.
Everything in and around IndyCar cannot be a cataclysmic event. There is nothing less appeal than a cult always preaching about doomsday when tomorrow keeps showing up. It is even worse when such behavior snuffs out what is best about the series.
Do you think anyone who was interested in sampling IndyCar during the winter is sticking around when for the better part of five months it was nothing but hostility from those already following the series? What reason has a newcomer been given to be excited about this season?
It isn't about ignoring the problems, but properly acknowledging them. The sky cannot always be falling, even if it is the easiest way to respond.
Now that the first race is here, I hope the on-track portion of IndyCar can take over because that is the strongest thing the series has going for it and it is a racing series after all.
We are coming off Álex Palou becoming the first champion to clinch a championship with races to spare in 15 years, and Palou has a new sponsor. Scott Dixon continues to re-write the record book and Dixon ended 2023 with three victories in the final four races. Josef Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500 last year, and Newgarden is one victory away from 30 in his career! Patricio O'Ward, Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin lead the pack of those looking for a championship.
Meanwhile, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is hoping to be more of a force after turning around its 2023 season, Marcus Ericsson is on a new team, Romain Grosjean is on a new team and still searching for that first victory, and the likes of Will Power and Alexander Rossi look to avoid consecutive winless seasons.
There is plenty of reasons to be excited about this new season. About 15 drivers you can envision winning a race and it is only a 17-race season. About ten of those 15 drivers could conceivably win the championship. We don't have a clue how things will end in September. Over the next seven months, the mystery will unravel in front of our very eyes.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Max Verstappen, but did you know...
Zane Maloney swept the Formula Two races from Bahrain. Arvid Lindblad (sprint) and Luke Browning (main) split the Formula Three races.
The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor won the Qatar 1812 km as Porsche swept the podium. The #92 Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche of Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm won in the LMGT3 class
Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Las Vegas. John Hunter Nemechek won the Grand National Series race. Rajah Caruth won the Truck race, his first career victory.
Jett Lawrence won the Supercross race from Daytona. Tom Vialle won the 250cc race.
Coming Up This Weekend
The IndyCar season opener from St. Petersburg.
The second round of the Formula One season from Saudi Arabia.
The first round of the MotoGP season from Qatar.
The first round of the Super Formula season from Suzuka.
Supercross makes its first visit to Birmingham, Alabama.
NASCAR is in Phoenix.
The Daytona 200 takes place.
